Little Walkers Creek
Little Walkers Creek

Author: Rebecca Cox Sowers

Publisher: Amer History Press

Published: 2005-10

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 9780975366745

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"Little Walkers Creek: A History of the Land and Its People" is the most complete history of this area in Southwestern Virginia ever written. This work encompasses all events in the area from the late 1700's into the early 1900's, with an emphasis on family genealogies. The author has researched in depth the First Land Grants located at the Library of Virginia and traced them forward at the local county courthouses in Montgomery, Wythe, Pulaski and Bland counties. With this newly rediscovered information at hand, the reader may now be able to trace how his ancestor acquired his land and, possibly, if it was later donated to a church, county school or even for use as a cemetery. Ms. Sowers has also studied the census records from that period to obtain even more detailed information. Is it possible that your ancestor had children that you did not know about? Yes! Many children disappeared from one census to another indicating that the child had perhaps died from an epidemic or illness such as diphtheria or yellow fever. This history may help you uncover the long lost relative - which you didn't even know was lost! Was your ancestor a Confederate soldier or the widow of a Confederate soldier? The author has laboriously transcribed the available military records such as the Confederate Pensions, which provide precise information such as age and place of birth, occupation, service during the war and injuries or sickness. The Confederate Widows Pensions will provide information such as marriage place and date, place of birth and date, and cause, place and date of death of husband. Structured and detailed genealogies will also assist the reader in discovering the relationships between individuals, and in some cases, photographs depict the people who made up the fascinating human landscape of the region. This history is a "must have" if you have ancestors from the Little Walkers Creek area, or have an interest in the history of the region, and it will surely prove to be an invaluable asset as you conduct your research.

Pulaski
Pulaski

Author: John B. White

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 132

ISBN-13: 9780738554150

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In 1854, the agrarian area known as Pulaski was bisected by the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, which brought with it access to new markets, reduced isolation created by the New River, and heavy industry. The 1870s saw the restoration of an economy decimated by war and the incorporation of Dublin and Newbern. The Pulaski Agricultural and Mechanical Association, incorporated in 1872 to promote "enterprise, industry, and thrift among the citizens," was forced to raise funds from the very Philadelphia capitalists who had laid claim to county mineral lands. By 1886, Pulaski City, a classic boomtown, became a microcosm of industrialization in the Central Appalachians. The change created a struggle between the land's agrarian past and industrialized future. Images of America: Pulaski provides glimpses into the rich history of this land. This collection of nearly 200 photographs helps tell the story of those owners of land and industry, those who labored for self-sufficiency, and those who sought to give their children a better life.

Free Frank
Free Frank

Author: Juliet E.K. Walker

Publisher: University Press of Kentucky

Published: 2021-10-21

Total Pages: 340

ISBN-13: 0813184150

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The story of Free Frank is not only a testament to human courage and resourcefulness but affords new insight into the American frontier. Born a slave in the South Carolina piedmont in 1777, Frank died a free man in 1854 in a town he had founded in western Illinois. His accomplishments, creditable for any frontiersman, were for a black man extraordinary. We first learn details of Frank's life when in 1795 his owner moved to Pulaski County, Kentucky. We know that he married Lucy, a slave on a neighboring farm, in 1799. Later he was allowed to hire out his time, and when his owner moved to Tennessee, Frank was left in charge of the Kentucky farm. During the War of 1812, he set up his own saltpeter works, an enterprise he maintained until he left Kentucky. In 1817 he purchased his wife's freedom for $800; two years later he bought his own liberty for the same price. Now free, he expanded his activities, purchasing land and dealing in livestock. With his wife and four of his children, Free Frank left Kentucky in 1830 to settle on a new frontier. In Pike County, Illinois, he purchased a farm and later, in 1836, platted and successfully promoted the town of New Philadelphia. The desire for freedom was an obvious spur to his commercial efforts. Through his lifetime of work he purchased the liberty of sixteen members of his family at a cost of nearly $14,000. Goods and services commanded a premium in the life of the frontier. Free Frank's career shows what an exceptional man, through working against great odds, could accomplish through industry, acumen, and aggressiveness. His story suggests a great deal about business activity and legal practices, as well as racial conditions, on the frontier. Juliet Walker has performed a task of historical detection in recreating the life of Free Frank from family traditions, limited personal papers, public documents, and secondary sources. In doing so, she has added a significant chapter to the history of African Americans.